SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Techwell, Inc. (NASDAQ:
TWLL) today announced the release of their most advanced 3D video decoder, the TW9919. A result of years of concentrated research and development, Techwell initially introduced 3D video decoding in 2004 and has spent the last two years of R&D advancing it's 3D comb filtering algorithms for NTSC and PAL. With the new TW9919, Techwell will better address the needs of the growing HDTV market including LCD, plasma, projection and progressive scan CRT TVs as well as premium DVD-Recorders and PC TV capture cards.

"We see many solutions on the market today that provide higher levels of integration but sacrifice performance with respect to decoding analog broadcast TV and composite video signals. Our internal testing shows we can deliver superior decoding performance including better 2D and 3D comb filtering, marked improvement under weak signal and non-standard signal conditions and far less side effects from bad VCR tapes", said Tom Krause, Director of Business Development. "Given an average HDTV sells for about $1,000 USD, we believe adopting our cost effective standalone TW9919 decoder can enable customers to meaningfully improve their TV performance without eating into their margins."

The TW9919 is part of Techwell's existing TW9900 family of general-purpose video decoders and to date Techwell has sold over 20 million video decoder based products. The latest TW9919 has a 10-bit multi-standard 3D video decoder with SCART and RGB mixing support, integrates a proprietary 3D comb filter for both NTSC and PAL, as well as a simultaneous 3D noise reduction algorithm. Capable of supporting Composite, S-video, YCbCr or SCART, the TW9919 can accept up to 16 inputs. In addition, the TW9919 integrates multiple functions including horizontal and vertical peaking, CTI and BCS control to achieve the best image quality.

"Techwell's latest mixed signal TW9919 video decoder displays their on- going commitment to provide high-quality, cost effective solutions for high end multimedia markets," said Henry Choy, Vice President of Display Electronics Research of DisplaySearch. "The new TW9919 enables an efficient, high performance viewing and recording experience by solving the complex quality issues of analog-to-digital decoders in a very efficient manner."

"The worldwide television market will pass 187 million units in 2006, and will reach 227 million units in 2009," said Paul Semenza, vice president, display research for the market intelligence firm iSuppli Corp., El Segundo, Calif. "At the same time, there is also an expanding market for multi-function monitors, which are expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24 percent between 2006 and 2010, contributing an additional 6 million units in 2010. Finally, DVD recorder production has been ramping up rapidly, and is expected to pass 32 million units in 2006; the CAGR is expected to be 30 percent through 2010. This market is highly fragmented, with different transmission formats used around the world, as well as a rapidly-growing segment of flat-panel televisions that require digital inputs."

Pricing and Availability

Manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan, the TW9919 utilizes a 128 pin PQFP package and is currently in mass production. Please contact your local Techwell sales representative for pricing and availability.

About Techwell

Techwell is a semiconductor company that designs, markets and sells mixed signal integrated circuits for multiple video applications in the security surveillance, automotive and consumer electronics markets. Techwell designs both general purpose and application specific products that enable the conversion of analog video signals to digital form and perform advanced digital video processing to facilitate the display, storage and transport of video content. Headquartered in San Jose, CA, Techwell currently has over 80 employees in the U.S., Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan. Please visit
www.techwellinc.com for more information.